


Speak Now

by allmylovesatonce



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:46:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4280772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmylovesatonce/pseuds/allmylovesatonce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in Season 2, pre-relationship: Mindy is partaking in a wedding of convenience that Danny is determined to stop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Maid of Honor

“Hey Danny! What are you doing this weekend?” Mindy asked, striding into Danny’s office.

Danny looked up from his paperwork to see Mindy throw herself down in one of his chairs. He could tell she was up to something. “Nothing. What do you want? I’m not taking one of your call shifts so you can go to some club. You’ll drink too much and come in on Monday complaining about it. I won’t do it.”

Mindy laughed and shook her head. “Oh Danny. While that sounds like fun, I actually have plans.”

“Then why did you want to know what I’m doing?”

“Because, being the wonderful friend that I am, I wanted to include you in my plans!” Mindy said excitedly.

“How sweet of you. I’ll pass,” Danny replied dryly.

Mindy stood up indignantly, “You don’t even know what my plans are.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m sure they won’t be suited for me.”

“Whatever. Be rude. Ask me if I care,” Mindy said, starting to storm out.

Danny sighed, giving in to her dramatics as he always seemed to do. “Fine. Mindy, what are your plans?”

Mindy turned around happily and sat down on the edge of Danny’s desk. Danny leaned back in his chair, waiting to hear what crazy shenanigans Mindy was going to do this weekend.

“I’m glad you should ask Danny,” Mindy said theatrically. Danny reached for his coffee, hoping she would hurry up and get to her point. “I’m actually getting married this weekend.” Danny flew forward in his chair and choked on his coffee. Mindy jumped up and clapped him on the back. “Whoa! Are you okay?”

Danny shook his head a little before looking up at her. “You’re getting married?! But you aren’t even seeing anyone!”

“Yeahhh, about that…” Mindy started.

Danny interrupted her. “Have you been seeing someone and you didn’t tell me? That’s not like you.”

Mindy cut him off. “If you’d let me finish I’d explain it to you. I’m not seeing someone. And you actually know the groom…”

Danny looked confused. And also horrified. Mindy could see the wheels turning in his head. He stood up and walked away from his desk. He was pacing by his door unable to form the words to ask all the questions swimming through his head. Finally he stopped and looked up at her. “I know the groom?” Mindy nodded. Danny groaned. “Are you marrying Casey again?”

Mindy gaped at him. “Casey? God, no! That’s over with, Danny. You know that.”

“Well I’m sorry, but that just seems to be the last real relationship you were in.”

“Yeah, well we aren’t really a couple…”

“But you’re getting married?” Danny asked incredulously.

“It’s kind of a funny story,” Mindy started to explain.

Just then, Peter came to the door, saying, “Mindy, I got that bakery down the street to cut a deal for bearclaws! A bearclaw cake, that’s like your dream right?”

Mindy smiled happily, “Cool, Peter! Thanks!” Peter just smiled and pointed at her before leaving.

Danny looked from Peter’s departing figure back to Mindy. When he finally spoke, his voice seemed a few octaves higher than normal. “You’re marrying Peter?!”

Mindy walked over and patted Danny on the shoulder comfortingly. “No, Danny, I’m not marrying Peter.” Danny started to relax slightly. “I’m actually marrying Jeremy.”

Danny stared at her with a look of pure horror. She didn’t think he could look more shocked than when he thought she was marrying Peter, but there it was on his stupid, handsome face. She decided that rather than pressing him with further information, she’d let Danny process things a bit.

He finally made a shaking motion with his head and grabbed her shoulders gently. “Mindy,” he asked slowly, “Why on Earth are you marrying Jeremy?”

“It’s funny you should ask, Danny. Maybe you should sit down, though, you look a little green,” Mindy said, guiding Danny into one of the chairs.

“So a couple of weeks ago, I was bored so I went out to a bar. It just so happened that Jeremy was at the same bar. We sat down and got to talking like we used to before we started sleeping together. And you know what? It was really nice. Then I went to the bar to get myself another drink and Jeremy got into some fight with some random guy and the next thing I knew, Jeremy picked up a chair and knocked the guy out with it. So he obviously got arrested and I bailed him out. Then the next thing he knew, the government wasn’t too happy that he was “a foreigner” beating up citizens of the United States and there is a good chance they might kick him out.”

Danny looked at Mindy skeptically. “What?”

“Yeah, so I’m marrying Jeremy for the practice so he can stay here in the country. Isn't that nice of me?”

Danny still looked flummoxed. Mindy continued anyway, “Sooo…I need someone to stand up with me, and I thought that you could do it. Peter is standing up for Jeremy, so it could be a real practice wedding if you were there for me. Yeah?”

Mindy couldn’t tell if Danny looked more disgusted or confused. “Okay, well just think about it and let me know?” Mindy asked, patting Danny on the arm as she got up to leave. She turned back. “Keep in mind, it is this weekend,” she reminded before departing for her office. He turned and watched her go. She looked almost happy.

He was confused. He knew this is not how Mindy would want to get married. Hell, Jeremy wouldn’t even let them be a real couple, but now he was okay with her being his wife? He was probably fine with it because it benefitted him. But what did Mindy get out of it? Danny may not want Jeremy to get deported, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let this wedding happen. He spent the rest of the day plotting ways to stop this madness, telling himself that he was doing it because he was too good a friend to Mindy to let her make a mistake this big. It certainly had nothing to do with the feelings he had for her that she had no clue existed.


	2. The Dress

Mindy browsed through the dresses in the store. Obviously she was going for white. This wedding may not be what she always pictured, but damn it, she was going to be wearing white. Sadly, white wasn’t exactly in season so her options were slim.

As she stood there trying to choose between two dresses, she thought about her upcoming nuptials.  She never saw herself marrying Jeremy. Jeremy wouldn’t even let them be an actual couple and now they were getting married. If she really thought about it, it seemed insane. She wanted to help him out though. Maybe it made her feel like a better person.

Sure, she never saw this all coming. But the thing she really never saw coming was Danny’s reaction. It was all she’d been able to think about since she left his office. His face had given him away. He was obviously horrified at the idea of her marrying Jeremy. There was a big part of her that thought maybe he was just upset she was getting married at all.

If she was honest, since she’d broken up with Casey, she’d been thinking about Danny more and more. He was always there for her. She didn’t even question it anymore. He was there the night of her almost wedding. Danny knew where to find her when no one else did. That had to mean something.

Then of course, there was that moment in the lounge before she left for Haiti. She never brought it up and he never did either. She’d be lying to herself though if she said she didn’t think about it a lot. What would have happened if Danny had kissed her like she thought he was going to? What would have happened if she had kept her stupid mouth shut? Maybe they’d be a couple now. Or maybe they’d hate each other again. She didn’t know. Except that she did know and she knew they wouldn’t hate each other.

There were times when she thought maybe it was all in her head. But Danny’s face when he heard the news about her upcoming wedding had Mindy feeling like it definitely wasn’t all in her head. They’d had plenty of moments where she was left questioning if he felt things for her. The flight back from Santa Fe was one of those moments. She just couldn’t quite peg Danny yet.  

She knew she felt her baser instincts kicking in when she saw him sometimes, particularly in tighter shirts. The man was right; she did stare at him when he wore t-shirts. The thing that kept her from making a move herself was that she just didn’t know how he’d react. She didn’t think he’d be above teasing her for wanting him. But she did. She was finally at the point where she could admit it. She wanted Danny Castellano. And it terrified her.

She had just gotten used to Danny being her friend. Why did she have to go and start having feelings for him? It was ruining her life. It wasn’t exactly a persistent thing. When she just casually saw him around the office, it wasn’t like she was drooling over him. But then he’d bring her lunch or coffee or smile at her and she’d melt.

She needed to stop thinking about Danny though. If she was ever going to have her chance with Danny it had passed. If there was ever a chance for a future with Danny it was now years down the road. It would seem a bit suspicious if she married Jeremy and then divorced him once he got his citizenship. The problem was she didn’t want to be with Jeremy. She wanted to be with Danny.

Jeremy was at least good in certain departments. Mindy wondered though if he’d be opposed to her taking a lover. Though if Jeremy wasn’t opposed to it, Danny certainly would be. And of course, it all came back to whether or not Danny felt the same way. While Jeremy was a nice guy, he wasn’t the forever kind of guy. Mindy didn’t know if she and Danny would ever make things happen, but she was pretty sure if they did, he would be a forever kind of guy.

She shook her head to clear away all thoughts of Danny. She was shopping for her wedding dress. For her wedding to Jeremy. She needed to focus on things that were actually happening, not delusions of things that would never happen. Chances were Danny didn’t even feel anything for her. He was fairly intense about everything, not just interactions with her.

As Mindy was checking out, she got a text from Danny.

**Meet me at the hospital. Soon.**

She was confused. This almost sounded like a clandestine meeting. It almost sounded sexy.

**Why there?**

**I’m on call. I need to talk to you in person, okay?**

Mindy could feel her breath shorten. What was going to happen at this meeting? What would he say to her? She tried to stop getting her hopes up but the idea of things starting between her and Danny wouldn’t leave her head. She bolted from the store toward the hospital. She made herself slow down as she got closer to the lounge.

Mindy strode in, hoping she looked confident. She spotted Danny over by the vending machine and cleared her throat to get his attention. He popped his head around and smiled at her. Confidence be damned. She had butterflies in her stomach from just his grin. This is not how a grown woman should behave. She set her bags down in front of the couch and sat down.

“So you wanted to talk to me?” She asked, wanting to get things going.

“Yeah,” Danny replied, tossing a bag of chips into her lap as he sat down next to her.

She looked down at the chips and back up at Danny. “What are these?”

Danny shrugged. “They’re your favorite.” He said it nonchalantly like it was so obvious that he knew her favorite snack from the vending machine. The butterflies started swarming. “Anyway, Mindy I need to talk to you…”

“So you said.”

“I can’t be your maid of honor or stand up with you. However you phrased it,” Danny explained, not really making eye contact.

“Why?” Mindy asked, trying to sound more annoyed than hopeful.

“I don’t think you should be marrying Jeremy. I can’t stand by and let you make a mistake like this. I don’t want to be a part of it. Sorry, Mindy,” Danny replied firmly. She could see a troubled look in his eyes though. Even if he didn’t want to be there, she could tell it wasn’t easy for him to say. He was just so damned loyal. And it was kind of a turn on for her.

Mindy reached out and grabbed Danny’s hand. Danny’s head shot up to look at her. The way they were sitting was incredibly reminiscent of the night of the almost kiss. It was with all the strength in her body that Mindy resisted from leaning in to kiss Danny.

She squeezed his hand softly. “It’s okay, Danny. I know it’s weird. I understand,” Mindy said reassuringly.

Danny reached out and covered her hand with his. “You’re sure? I don’t want you to be mad at me. Or to use this as fodder in some future fight that we have.”

Mindy laughed. “Danny it’s fine. I promise. I’ll just ask Morgan. I’m sure he’ll jump at the opportunity.” Danny laughed with her.

He squeezed her hand back and smiled at her. “Thanks for your understanding, Min,” he said right as his pager started to go off. “Ahh, duty calls. I’ll see you later.” Mindy nodded at him. He leaned in quickly and kissed her on the cheek. As he pulled back he paused inches away from her face. They stared each other down. Mindy noticed his eyes moving between hers and her lips. Her movements mirrored his. It was exactly like before, down to their positions on the couch.

Suddenly Danny shook his head and jumped up off the couch. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Min. I gotta go deliver babies.”

Mindy replied rather breathlessly, “Yeah, you do that.”  Danny disappeared from sight and Mindy threw herself back against the couch. In her mission to stop thinking about Danny, she was epically failing.  This marriage was going to be a sham. And not just because Jeremy wanted citizenship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'd love to know your thoughts!! 
> 
> Also, you can always find me here: http://allmylovesatonce.tumblr.com/


	3. The Hors D'oeuvres

Did Danny feel bad for bailing on Mindy when she needed him? Sure. Did he want to see the woman he had feelings for walk down the aisle to some British jerk? Hell no. He’d spent the better part of the evening beating himself up for saying no. But Mindy was making a huge mistake. He needed to spend his energy on figuring out how to stop this wedding without Jeremy getting kicked out of the country. While he despised the fact that Jeremy was the one Mindy was marrying, that didn’t mean he despised Jeremy.

Danny didn’t know what he was doing. He was actively plotting how to ruin his friends’ wedding all because _he_ thought it was a mistake. Maybe Mindy genuinely wanted to go through with the wedding. Maybe Jeremy had changed (though he doubted it) and would actually be good to Mindy this time. The biggest flaw in his plan to stop it all was that Danny didn’t even know if Mindy would return his feelings. It seemed like a big thing to ruin if Mindy only saw him as a friend.

Honestly, he had no clue where he stood with Mindy. Every time he thought he knew, she’d throw a wrench in things. He was going to kiss her before she left for Haiti, but then she announced that she was back together with Casey. There’d been plenty of times where he swore he’d stared just a bit too long and that she’d call him out on it. She never did though.

As much as he really wanted to stop this wedding for his own selfish reasons, his guilt was holding him back. The best he’d come up with so far was fake kidnapping Mindy (he thought she’d appreciate the drama of it) or fake paging Jeremy to the hospital. Neither were exactly stellar or foolproof ideas. What he really needed to do was just accept that nothing would ever happen with Mindy. The sooner he did that, the happier he’d be. Well, not happier. But maybe he’d be more at ease.

He was walking back toward the lounge when he heard her voice. He slowed down on his approach. He’d expected her to leave when he ran off to deliver the baby. Apparently not.

“I’m not having that at my wedding. It’s gross.” Danny smiled, happy that she was at least the same old Mindy.

“Mindy! It’s a British delicacy,” he heard Jeremy whine back at her. Danny’s stomach sank. He really did not want to witness them planning their wedding. He thought about just heading somewhere else to wait for his patient to dilate. As he was turning to go, Jeremy spotted him.

“Danny! Come help us. We need an impartial party to help with some wedding details.”

Danny sulked in to the lounge. Impartial? He was probably the furthest thing from impartial. Danny threw himself down in the chair looked at them. Mindy looked at him skeptically for a second before her expression went blank. Maybe she saw the disgust in his eyes or maybe she just confused it for exhaustion.

“Okay, Danny,” Mindy started, “So there is this delicacy that Jeremy would like to serve at our wedding. What do you think? Personally I think it’s rather stupid to serve a _British_ delicacy at a wedding that is keeping you from being sent back there.” Danny nodded slowly. She certainly had a point. Granted, he’d pretty much planned to agree with her no matter what.

“Bullocks. Fine,” Jeremy conceded.

Danny slapped his hands down on the arms of his chair. “Great. Is that all?” he asked, getting up to leave. He could only take so much of the “happy couple.”

“Are you kidding me? Of course not!” Mindy cried. “We can’t agree on anything. Do you mind playing mediator until your next patient needs you?”

Danny looked pained. Nonetheless he sat back down and motioned for her to continue. Mindy smiled happily and said, “Great. Thanks, Danny.” Danny started preparing himself for what would probably be the most painful times of his recent life. He could have cursed his patient for how long it took her to dilate and how long he had to sit there with them.

The next day, Danny was sitting at his desk bemoaning the fact that he still didn’t see a way out of this wedding. It was happening. Maybe it was time that he just acknowledged it and let it happen. He couldn’t help how he felt though. His relationship with Mindy had evolved so much in the past year. He was pretty sure he would still try to stop this wedding even if he didn’t think he loved her. Maybe it was time for Jeremy to learn that you can’t just beat people up without consequences.

Mindy interrupted his umpteenth time thinking about her wedding as she strolled into his office. She sat down in one of his chairs the same way she’d done when she came in to break the news. She sat there for a minute before she finally started speaking. The way she was looking at Danny was making him feel unsettled. There was something behind her gaze, he just couldn’t put his finger on what it was though.

“Thank you, Danny,” Mindy said finally.

Danny gave her a puzzled glance. “For what?”

“For sitting there with me and Jeremy last night trying to help us sort out this mess of a wedding,” she said with a sad smile.

“Eh, it was no big deal,” Danny replied with a shrug.

“No, it was a big deal. I know you think this is a big mistake, Danny, but you helped us anyway,” Mindy stated. “You’re a good person. I know you like to beat yourself up for things that happened in your past, but you’re a good guy. I mean it,” she added, reaching out to grab one of his hands.

He smiled back at her. Danny looked down at their intertwined hands and realized that this is the second time in twelve hours that Mindy had made this gesture. When she’d done it in the lounge it was almost too much for him. Their whole interaction was so reminiscent of the night he almost kissed her. He’d almost kissed her again last night. But he knew it wasn’t the right time. He didn’t want to kiss her when she was days away from marrying another man, sham wedding or not.

He looked back up at her and smiled sadly. He turned his hand in hers so he could squeeze her hand. He felt a bit choked up. He hoped she didn’t notice when he thanked her for her kind words. Mindy squeezed back before she got up to leave.

She had turned away but came back to stand nearer to him. She looked almost nervous. As she stood over him, Mindy asked, “Danny, are you okay?” She paused before adding, “Because you don’t really seem like it.”

This was his moment. He could put it all on the line right now. Danny stood up and grabbed one of her hands. “Actually, Mindy, I’m not okay,” Danny stated. They were standing too close. Danny was staring at her and she wasn’t breaking her gaze at him. Mindy parted her lips slightly and Danny noticed.

“Hey, Mindy,” Jeremy interrupted, sticking his head in the door. Danny was still looking at Mindy and could see her roll her eyes. “Could I speak with you for a moment? It’s important.”

Mindy inhaled sharply and looked back at Danny apologetically. She realized they were still holding hands. She squeezed his hand quickly before she let go. She gently touched Danny’s upper arm as she said, “I’ll be back in a second, okay? I still want to talk about this.” Danny looked nervously at her and nodded.

Mindy followed Jeremy out of Danny’s office and into her own. She huffed as she sat down in her chair.

“What do you want Jeremy?” Mindy asked, her annoyance apparent.

“I have great news!” Jeremy gushed. “I spoke with lawyers and the man I had the altercation with, and they’ve decided to drop the charges. I can stay here. And here’s the best part: we don’t have to get married!”

Mindy gawked at him. “What? No!”

Jeremy did an obvious double take at Mindy’s reaction. “I’m flattered Mindy but you know it was a marriage of convenience.”

Mindy shook her head violently. “Yes, yes, yes, I knew that.” She took a deep breath before getting up and shutting the door. “Listen, don’t judge me for what I’m about to tell you.”

“Okay…” Jeremy replied hesitantly.

“We’re going to go through with this wedding,” Mindy said. When Jeremy started to sputter his resistance, she continued. “We aren’t going to actually get married, Jeremy. But we are going to make it seem like nothing’s changed.”

Jeremy looked intensely confused. “Why?”

“Because I have Danny pretty much where I want him. And I’m fairly sure that if this wedding wasn’t happening we would not have almost kissed twice in the last two days. I can tell it’s killing him to see me marry you. So we’re going to bait him and see if he crashes this thing like I think he’s going to.”

Jeremy shook his head. “So we’re going to have a fake wedding to see if Danny is as into you as you believe he is?”

Mindy smiled and rubbed her hands together deviously, “Yes, Jeremy. That is _exactly_ what we’re going to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're still reading and enjoying it! As always I'd love to hear your thoughts? What did you think?
> 
> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> You can find me here: http://allmylovesatonce.tumblr.com/


	4. The Ceremony

Mindy was pacing by the door. She kept muttering to herself, completely unbelieving that Danny hadn’t shown up yet. She was positive he was going to show up and crash everything. She’d expected him to find her at her apartment before she even got to the office. But she’d gotten ready and left and he’d never shown his face. Danny was at least a man of his word. She just really didn’t think he’d actually not show up. Danny may protest the stupid things she does, but in the end he always caves and tags along with her.

Mindy looked around the office. It wasn’t exactly the place she saw herself getting married, but she’d done a good enough job decorating it to make her feel somewhat better. They’d had no luck finding any other place that wasn’t shady for Jeremy and Mindy to get married in so they decided the office would suffice. It was rather apropos to Mindy, because until Jeremy told her he could stay anyway, the office was what she was trying to save.

Jeremy walked quickly up to Mindy, stopping her pacing. “Mindy, I thought you said Danny would be here?”

“I really thought he would be. Maybe he’s stuck in traffic. Maybe he’s planning on a more dramatic entrance…”

Jeremy looked skeptically at Mindy. “Really? You think _Danny_ is planning out dramatics?”

Mindy huffed. “Whatever. Let’s just continue with the plan. We start the wedding and we stop him before it gets too far and we’re actually married. And remember, _I_ get to be the one to freak out and call it off.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Even though I think it makes much more sense for me to, yes, we did agree to that.” Mindy slapped him slightly as Peter approached them.

“Yo, we going to get this show on the road already? What are we waiting on?”

Jeremy looked at Mindy nervously. They’d kept their grand plan to themselves. Mindy didn’t want everyone to know she had feelings for Danny in case they didn’t work out. She looked at Peter and Jeremy before stalking off towards her office. She’d give it five more minutes and then they’d start the ceremony.

She stared at her phone. She was hoping maybe she’d have a text from him. She thought about texting him and saying she was freaking out but that seemed almost _too_ manipulative. When she finally couldn’t wait any longer, she strolled out and got the ball rolling.

Mindy could hear Morgan softly crying behind her as the justice of the peace started the ceremony. Jeremy looked anxious. Mindy probably did too. She was secretly afraid that she would miss her cue, freak out too late, and end up married to Jeremy. She was going to have to pay acute attention. She was still holding out hope that Danny would run in though. It would just make for such a great story. She couldn’t help it; she wanted the great story.

They were getting pretty far into the ceremony when Jeremy started giving her a panicked look. Mindy was opening her mouth to stop all the madness when he ran in. “Stop!” Danny yelled. Everyone looked over at him. Trying to sell the ruse, Mindy tried her hardest not to smile. She wasn’t sure she actually accomplished it though. Danny walked forward to where they were in the middle of reception.

“Mindy you can’t marry him,” he said simply.

Jeremy feigned confusion. “What?”

“Look, I’m sorry Jeremy, but I can’t let you guys do this. Mindy, you deserve better. When you were with Jeremy before, he didn’t actually respect you. He’d text you or call you and then come over when he wanted to. He was a jerk.”

Jeremy looked perturbed but Mindy was all but beaming at Danny. This was going pretty much exactly as she’d planned it. Danny walked even closed and grabbed Mindy’s arm to gently pull her away from Jeremy.

“Mindy, you’re my best friend and I’d feel terrible if I let you make a mistake this big. We both know you’d regret it for the rest of your life. And I can’t have that on my head. You’ve done a lot for me. I thought I’d do this for you. You’re a wonderful person and you deserve better than this.”

Mindy smiled brightly at him. Danny had a hopeful look on his face when he turned to look at Jeremy.

“Jeremy, I’m not gonna let you get deported. Don’t worry. I figured it out. You can just marry Morgan and get to stay in the country that way. You could just say you’re gay.”

Jeremy looked horrified. Morgan stepped forward into the place Mindy had vacated. He reached over and grabbed one of Jeremy’s hands. “For you, Dr. Reid, I’d do anything. I say let’s do this.” Jeremy tried to pull his hand away but Morgan held on to it. “This was actually a great idea, Dr. C.,” Morgan said, praising Danny. Mindy could not hold in her laughter.

Jeremy freaked out and ran back toward his office. “Forget this. I’m going to contact my lawyers and see what we can do to get me to stay. I’m not marrying Morgan. It’s Mindy or no one.” Mindy was kind of impressed he didn’t just say he was already cleared to stay.

Peter looked over and eyed the way Mindy was smiling at Danny when she thought no one was looking. Turning back to Jeremy, he said, “Well it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna be Mindy.”

“Then no one. Done,” Jeremy exclaimed, slipping into his office and closing the door hastily behind him.

Mindy patted Danny on the arm and also walked off toward her office. He followed close behind her. She sat down in her chair and leaned back to put her feet up on the desk. “Ahh, nothing like the freedom of not being part of a sham wedding.”

“Why didn’t you just get out of it yourself?” Danny asked, leaning in her doorway.

“I would have felt too guilty, probably,” Mindy answered. She sat there wondering how much longer she’d have to wait to have Danny make a move. He’d nearly done it twice in the past week. “God, I could use a drink.”

Danny smirked and stepped further into her office. “Well then come on. I’m buying.”

As Mindy got up and walked out of her office with Danny, she thought maybe this was the moment she’d been waiting for. However, when he invited the rest of their friends to join them, she realized she may have to wait a bit longer for Danny Castellano to finally take a hint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that there was a bit of a delay. Life gets in the way!   
> I hope you're still liking this! Thanks for reading!


	5. The Reception

Monday morning came too fast for Mindy. She felt like she hadn’t properly been able to enjoy her weekend as a single woman. Granted, it wasn’t like she’d done anything crazy. She’d just watched rom-coms and drank a ton of wine. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.

As she walked into the building, she saw Danny waiting for the elevator. She felt a pang in her chest when she laid eyes on him. That was the one thing still up in the air. How many times did he have to pull back from an almost kiss to realize that she was into it? When they'd all gone out after the sham wedding, she'd wanted to get sloppy drunk and make out with him. She ended up talking herself out of it. That wasn't going to be enough to actually start something, no matter how much fun it might be. 

When he heard the clacking of her heels, he looked up and smiled at her. It was one of his heart stopping, panty dropping smiles. She nervously sidled up next to him. How could he not tell the effect he had on her? The elevator doors opened and Danny motioned for her to go first. She got on and pressed the number for their floor as he followed her in and stood close to her. Too close. 

“So how was the rest of your weekend?” Mindy asked cheerfully, trying to think of anything but pushing Danny up against the wall and kissing him within an inch of his life.

Danny cleared his throat. “Uh, it was good. You?” he asked as the doors began to close.

“Good. I—”

Danny grabbed Mindy by the arm and turned her to face him. “Listen, Mindy, I need to be honest with you.” She nodded slowly. “I didn’t just interrupt your wedding because I didn’t want you to make some big mistake.”

Mindy kept nodding. “Okay…then why did you –?”

Mindy was interrupted by Danny pulling her to him and kissing her. It was the moment she’d been waiting for weeks to happen. Hell, if she was honest with herself, she’d been waiting months. It was pretty much everything she thought it would be. He held her securely to him with one hand on her hip and the other cupping her face. He was kissing her deeply and confidently. And hotly.

Way too quickly for her liking, Danny let her go and took a step back. He looked at her nervously like he thought she might hit him or something. When she smiled at him, she saw his nerves disappear and a rather smug smile grace his face.

Mindy stepped closer to him and reached forward and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. “I like your reasoning,” she said simply before pulling him back in for another kiss. When the elevator dinged for their floor, they quickly broke apart. It didn’t seem professional to have one of their employees find them making out in the elevator. Danny straightened his jacket and Mindy patted down her hair as they walked into the office. They smiled smugly at each other before quickly departing for their respective offices.

It was mid-afternoon before Mindy finally had a break. She’d admit that she’d been fairly distracted during her morning appointments. As she set off for Danny’s office, she was stopped by Jeremy.

“Ah, Mindy,” he said happily.

Mindy fought the urge to roll her eyes at her interruption. “Hey, Jeremy!” She managed to say somewhat cheerfully.  

“I’m sure you’re busy but I realized I don’t think I really ever thanked you,” Jeremy stated, looking slightly apologetic. “You’re a wonderful person and a great friend to volunteer to do all that for me. So thank you, Mindy. Really. I owe you,” he concluded, leaning in for a hug.

Mindy smiled. “Hey, don’t mention it. Though if I run into some designer accessory I can’t live without, I may take you up on that owing thing.”

Jeremy smiled painfully but nodded. Mindy patted him on the arm before moving past him towards Danny’s office. She knocked twice and opened the door before waiting for him to answer. He looked up from his paperwork to see who entered. Upon noticing her, he smiled brightly at her. Mindy didn’t think she’d ever tire of seeing him smile like that. She slowly closed the door behind her before racing over to kiss him again.

“I’ve just had the hardest time focusing on anything today when I knew I could be doing this…” Mindy said with a guilty grin on her face.

Danny grinned back at her as he stood up to kiss her again. He kissed her deeply like he’d been waiting too long to do so. She knew the feeling well. She hoped he could tell how much she reciprocated it. He clutched her closer to him. As they kept kissing, she felt her legs hit his desk. Mindy got completely carried away and was reaching for the top button of his shirt when his phone rang.

They jumped apart, startled at the sound. Danny kissed her quickly on her cheek before answering the phone. After he hung up, he looked at her regretfully. “I have a patient.”

Mindy nodded and leaned back in for a quick kiss before walking back around his desk. “I probably do too,” she replied as she opened the door to leave. She turned back to see him sitting back in his chair and flipping through a patient’s file.

A smile played across her lips as she called up the same playful tone and phrase from less than a week before. The phrase that kind of started this whole mess. “Hey Danny! What are you doing this weekend?”

“Nothing.” Danny looked up slowly with a knowing grin. “Unless you had something in mind…”

Oh she had something in mind alright. Mindy winked at him as she backed out of his office, her mind already racing with new possibilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!  
> As always, I'd love to hear your feedback!


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